Figuring Out with Raj Shamani
Raj Shamani
Figuring Out is a podcast for people who want to learn. It connects the world’s sharpest minds to the 1.4 billion Indians who want to win.
Raj Shamani sits across from the world's top 1%: billionaires, leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and experts to give you a masterclass in what it takes to reach the top of a global stage. World’s best playbooks, strategies, and stories for the generation that wants to turn their ambitious dreams into reality. Figuring Out has become a place where the world comes to talk to India. And where India comes to learn from the world. Follow to become a part of it.
Raj Shamani sits across from the world's top 1%: billionaires, leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and experts to give you a masterclass in what it takes to reach the top of a global stage. World’s best playbooks, strategies, and stories for the generation that wants to turn their ambitious dreams into reality. Figuring Out has become a place where the world comes to talk to India. And where India comes to learn from the world. Follow to become a part of it.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 20, 2026 • 2h 22min
Social Scientist: Why Everyone Wants To Look Rich & Successful | Rob Henderson | FO577 Raj Shamani
Rob Henderson, social scientist, Manhattan Institute senior fellow, and author of Troubled, explores the hidden rules of status. They discuss why people lie, how wealth and poverty shape self-presentation, the shift from luxury goods to cultural capital, and why success never feels sufficient. They also examine dating, “luxury beliefs,” social mobility, young men and risk, escaping low-status labels, and the personal cost of rising from poverty to elite institutions.
44 snips
Oct 17, 2026 • 2h 16min
How to Read People, Build Trust & Choose Better Friends | Adam Grant | FO576 Raj Shamani
Adam Grant, organizational psychologist, Wharton professor, and bestselling author, explores why first impressions can mislead and how to read character through behavior. He unpacks chemistry, deep conversations, virtual dating, friendship, loneliness, and the difference between liking, trust, and reliability. They also discuss conflict, forgiveness, introversion, reconnecting with old friends, and building stronger communities.
Oct 15, 2026 • 2h 10min
When Love Turns Deadly: Murder, Betrayal & Crime Scenes | Barbara Butcher | FO575 Raj Shamani
Barbara Butcher, a retired New York City death investigator who examined more than 5,500 deaths, reveals how crime scenes speak. She explores estimating time of death, reading blood patterns and gunshot wounds, spotting staged murders, and the eerie ways bodies can move or make sounds. She also recounts baffling cases, murder motives, ghost stories, and the personal cost of confronting death for decades.
17 snips
Oct 13, 2026 • 2h 6min
Where To Earn The Most Abroad: Careers, Salaries & Visas | Dr. Karan Gupta | FO574 Raj Shamani
Dr. Karan Gupta, Harvard Business School alumnus and global career counsellor, has guided over 100,000 students toward international opportunities. He explores whether studying abroad is worth the cost, choosing countries and universities, career paths in AI, data and healthcare, MBA options after 30, scholarships, visa uncertainty, permanent residency, and strategies for landing work overseas.
35 snips
Oct 10, 2026 • 1h 58min
Top Investor’s Warning: Global Crisis Coming For Your Wealth | Saurabh Mukherjea | FO573 Raj Shamani
Saurabh Mukherjea, investor, author, and founder of Marcellus Investment Managers, discusses the risks of a new financial crisis. They explore cheap money, rising debt, inflation, currency shocks, geopolitical tensions, and overvalued markets. He also examines resilient companies, leadership cultures, boring businesses, global diversification, ETFs, and building a portfolio designed to withstand volatility.
12 snips
Oct 8, 2026 • 2h 6min
Startup Ideas, Timing & AI: How To Build The Next Big Thing | Sravanth Aluru | FO572 Raj Shamani
Sravanth Aluru, CEO and co-founder of Avataar.ai, is an IIT Bombay and Wharton alumnus who left Wall Street to build AI companies. He explores exponential startups, choosing the right moment to begin, and why execution beats ideas. They discuss AI’s impact on industries, robotics, founder pressure, building AI-native organizations, and Varya, an affordable video model created for India.
18 snips
Oct 6, 2026 • 2h 31min
Memory Explained: Why We Forget & How to Make It Sharper | Nikolay Kukushkin | FO571 Raj Shamani
Nikolay Kukushkin, a neuroscientist and author studying the biology of memory and consciousness, explores why learning physically changes the brain. He breaks down memory palaces, forgetting, sleep, childhood amnesia, and why smells and songs unlock vivid recollections. The conversation also dives into dopamine, motivation, personality, anxiety, jealousy, and how surprise can rewire mental models.
74 snips
Oct 3, 2026 • 1h 40min
NYU Professor: The Middle Class Is A Lie & How To Escape It | Scott Galloway | FO570 Raj Shamani
Scott Galloway, NYU marketing professor, entrepreneur, and author, delivers a candid look at wealth inequality, social media anxiety, college costs, and why success depends on luck, risk, and relationships. He explores AI’s impact on work, investing through market corrections, storytelling, extreme ambition, and the personal cost of chasing achievement.
Oct 1, 2026 • 1h 55min
Fake Names & Secret Identities: How Intelligence Agents Operate | David Bickford | FO569 Raj Shamani
David Bickford, former legal director of the UK’s MI5 and MI6, reveals how intelligence officers are recruited, trained, and kept accountable. He compares MI5, MI6, and the CIA, explores fake passports, secret identities, and protecting agents in court, then dives into offshore banking, money laundering, undercover stings, organized crime, spy-catching operations, and the personal cost of a life in intelligence.
11 snips
Sep 29, 2026 • 1h 50min
The Next $1 Trillion Energy Boom: Solar, Wind, & Green Hydrogen | Sumant Sinha | FO568 Raj Shamani
Sumant Sinha, founder and CEO of renewable-energy giant ReNew, explores the race for cheap, reliable power. They discuss India’s surging electricity demand, solar, batteries and grid expansion, China’s clean-tech dominance, America’s grid constraints, energy security, electrification, and the trillion-dollar opportunities emerging across manufacturing, storage and software.
